NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

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The sargassum provides vital food and shelter for the turtles until they are large enough to set off into the open ocean. The sheer volume of seaweed coming in this year means many more turtles are washing up along with their floating homes.

Photo: James Nielsen, Staff

The sargassum provides vital food and shelter for the turtles until...

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The turtles are often found by regular people walking on the beach. This week one stayed with a turtle for two hours, keeping it wet until authorites could get there to take it to safety.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

The turtles are often found by regular people walking on the beach....

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches. More than 20 turtles are being housed at the NOAA turtle facility with more farmed out to area aquariums to save space.

Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Homar Villatoro walks over a mound of seaweed on the beach near 19th street Thursday, May 22, 2014, in Galveston. The turtles can be as small as 2 inches long and hide out in the seaweed as they grow.

Photo: James Nielsen, James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Homar Villatoro walks over a mound of seaweed on the beach near...

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NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 7 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 8 of 34

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the...

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NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 10 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 11 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 12 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 13 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

Image 14 of 34

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles this year, washed ashore with the massive piles of seaweed invading Galveston. The turtles usually live on sargassum rafts floating out at sea until they are 15 years old.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA report they have picked up five times as many green turtles...

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Mounds of seaweed on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

Mounds of seaweed on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday,...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches. Officials called it a "never-ending" problem on Wednesday, June 11, 2014.

Photo: James Nielsen, James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches. Officials called it a "never-ending" problem on Wednesday, June 11, 2014.

Photo: James Nielsen, James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches.

Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches.

Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches.

Photo: James Nielsen, James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the seaweed problem continues to grow on Galveston beaches.

Photo: James Nielsen, James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

Tourists are grumbling and cleanup crews are scrambling as the...

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Seaweed washes ashore on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

Seaweed washes ashore on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard...

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A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the...

Image 24 of 34

A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along...

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A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along...

Image 26 of 34

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the...

Image 27 of 34

A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along...

Image 28 of 34

A woman walks in the surf as seaweed washes ashore on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A woman walks in the surf as seaweed washes ashore on the beaches...

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A woman walks in the surf as seaweed washes ashore on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A woman walks in the surf as seaweed washes ashore on the beaches...

Image 30 of 34

Seaweed piled in mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

Seaweed piled in mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard...

Image 31 of 34

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

A wheel loader dumps a bucket of seaweed into a dump truck on the...

Image 32 of 34

Seagulls fly over mounds of seaweed on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

Seagulls fly over mounds of seaweed on the beaches along Seawall...

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A wheel loader pushes seaweed into mounds on the beaches along Seawall Boulevard Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Galveston.

Endangered green sea turtles are the latest victims of Galveston's great seaweed invasion of 2014.

Authorities say five times as many turtles are being rescued from the beaches as normal, as they are washed ashore with the unprecedented amount of sargassum algae that has been covering the beaches.

The turtles, ranging in size from just inches long to just over a foot, live on rafts of the seaweed out in the Gulf, surviving on the food the natural islands provide until they are as old as 15.

"They're so attached, they rely on the algae for food," said Andy Krauss, a NOAA affiliate research assistant in Galveston. "There's a lot of shrimps and other food within it; wherever it goes, they go."

Krauss says the turtles don't realize they should leave the safety and security of the seaweed until it's too late and they are beached.

"Most of them are strong swimmers but at that life stage, they haven't gotten the hint yet that they can swim off and leave the sargassum. They hide in it, they eat in it, it's their whole life for 10-15 years." Krauss said.

The green sea turtle is considered a threatened species by both the state and federal government.

NOAA has received a steady influx of calls from people finding turtles since the seaweed invasion began. Earlier this week a good Samaritan waited with a hatchling for two hours, keeping it wet until officials could get there to save it.

"If they sit out in the sun in the sargassum, they don't have a long time before they dry out and die," said Krauss, noting that covering them with a wet towel can help as well as pouring water over them.

A total of 20 green turtles are now being housed at the NOAA Fisheries turtle facility in Galveston with more living out at area aquariums to try and save space.

The refugees will stay in captivity until they are large enough to be released back into the wild, which could take several years for some of the smaller ones.

Experts say the sheer volume of sargassum coming onto the beach this year is what is causing the problem. Usually only three or four green turtles end up stranded, according to Krauss, but more seaweed equals more turtles.

"The consensus is the same – this is the worst we've ever seen," Jesse Ojeda, beach cleaning operations manager in Galveston said earlier this month, as the seaweed mountain continued to grow.

NOAA say the onslaught could continue with heavy flows of seaweed still coming in at times.

"I noticed on west Galveston Island it was coming in pretty heavy (Monday), it just depends where it is out there in the Gulf, and the wind, if we get a lot of southern winds there could be more." said Krauss.

Anyone finding a turtle can call a special hotline which is listed on signs all along the beach, 1-866-TURTLE-5.